Meningitis Outbreak: FDA re-releases list of customers

41 Action News Staff

10:10 AM, Oct 24, 2012

The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday re-released a list of about 3,000 hospitals, doctors' offices and clinics on the customer list of the Massachusetts drug manufacturer at the center of a deadly multi-state meningitis outbreak.

The list contains 34 locations in Kansas and zero in Missouri who purchased steroids and other drugs from the New England Compounding Center, whose products are associated with 308 illnesses and 23 deaths.

If contaminated, the drugs would be especially dangerous for patients, according to the FDA. The lists contain information on purchases and shipments made on or after May 21, 2012.

"Products produced and shipped by NECC on or after May 21, 2012 are believed at this time to be of greatest risk of contamination," the FDA statement said. "Patients who received an NECC product prior to May 21, 2012 and who have not experienced symptoms of infection to date are at less risk of infection because of the amount of time that has elapsed since that date."

A "few" drugs are of concern, according to FDA spokeswoman Sarah Clark-Lynn. They include triamcinolone acetonide, an injectable steroid used to treat pain; injectable drugs used for eye surgery; and cardioplegic solutions, which are used during open heart surgeries.

This month, dozens of hospitals were contacted about the potential danger of another injectable steroid, methylprednisolone, which is used to treat pain.

The FDA warns patients who received any of these drugs to be vigilant for signs of fungal meningitis, such as headache and fever.

A second list published by the FDA shows the exact products shipped to each location.

Fourteen of the Kansas locations are in the Kansas City metro (listed below). Five of them, all in Johnson County, Kan., were on a list published Monday that was pulled after the FDA found inaccuracies in the list.

All five - Shawnee Mission Medical Center, Overland Park Regional Medical Center, Olathe Medical Center, Menorah Medical Center and College Park Family Care – told 41 Action News on Tuesday any products from NECC had been pulled before a recall was issued on Oct. 6.

"The lists were prepared based on information provided by NECC, and FDA cannot vouch for the completeness or accuracy of the lists," the FDA said in a statement on its website announcing the lists. "Products shipped by NECC may be missing from the list and facility information may be incomplete."